The present invention relates to a resin-packaged semiconductor device having a construction that the back faces of an island and each lead are exposed from a resin package so as to permit the semiconductor device to be directly mounted to a printed circuit board through the back face of each lead. More particularly, it relates to a resin-packaged semiconductor device having a construction that ground terminal of semiconductor chip is connected to the island by wire bonding so as to permit the semiconductor to be soldered to, for example, a printed circuit board with its island used as a ground lead.
For example, a QFN (Quad Flat Non Lead) type package is known for a resin-packaged semiconductor device with a construction that the back faces of its island and each lead are exposed from the resin package so as to permit the semiconductor device to be directly mounted to a printed circuit board and the like through the back face of each lead. A semiconductor device 10 having such a construction comprises, for example as its explanatory cross-sectional view is shown in FIG. 4, an island 1 for bonding a semiconductor chip 3 thereon by use of an adhesive agent 5 such as silver paste and a plurality of leads 2 arrayed around the island 1 in such a configuration that each electrode terminal of the semiconductor chip 3 is wire-bonded in electrical connection to the corresponding one of the plurality of leads 2 by use of a wire 4 made of metal and the like. Then, the front face side, which is the side on which the semiconductor chip 3 has undergone die bonding and wire bonding is molded with a resin, thus forming a resin package 6.
In the construction shown in FIG. 4, the ground terminal of the semiconductor chip 3 can be wire-bonded with the island 1 through a second wire 4b to thereby permit the device to be connected to a printed circuit board with the island 1 used as a ground lead. Each lead 2, the back face of which is to be directly connected to the printed circuit board and the like, need not to be formed as extended from the resin package 6, thus providing a so-called lead-less construction. As shown in FIG. 5, thus constructed semiconductor device 10 can be directly soldered through solder reflow and thereby mounted to, e.g. a printed circuit board 7 with a wiring pattern 8 formed thereon.
As mentioned above, a resin-packaged semiconductor device having such a construction typified by a QFN type package that the back faces of its island and each lead are exposed from the package so as to permit the device to be directly soldered to a printed circuit board or the like which having no lead extending to the outside, so that advantageously it can be small and easily mounted as well as readily radiate externally the heat produced during its operation, thus improving the reliabilities. Disadvantageously, however, when the device is mounted to the printed circuit board and the like, the island readily rises during solder reflow up to a soldering temperature, accompanied by a rapid rise in temperature of the overlying resin package. Problematically, this rapid rise in temperature of the island and the overlying resin causes expansion of the water contents contained in their interface and resin and also partial vapor explosion, thus giving rise to separation between the island and the resin as well as disconnection or cut-off of the second wire bonded to the island as shown as A in FIG. 4.
In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a stable-quality resin-packaged semiconductor device of such a type typified by a QFN type package that the back faces of its island and each lead are exposed to thereby permit the device to be, for example, soldered directly through these back faces and mounted to a printed circuit board and the like, in which the wire bonded to the island persistently cannot easily be disconnected or cut off.
A semiconductor device of a QFN type package and the like, when mounted to a printed circuit board and the like, may encounter an accident of disconnection or cutoff of the bonding portion of the second wire bonded to the island, the causes of which were investigated and discussed greatly by the inventor, who eventually found that local vapor explosion occurs due to a soldering temperature during solder reflow at the time of mounting, which leads to a separation force acting particularly on the interface between the island having a large area and hence a large thermal capacity and the overlying resin package which is roughly only in plane contact with it. The inventor found also that to guard against it, by forming a gap between the wire bonding portion on the island and the die pad portion to thereby cover only the wire bonding portion with a resin in configuration, a separation force would not act on the wire bonding portion so much, thus preventing disconnection and cut-off of the wire.
That is, an ordinary type of a resin-packaged semiconductor device may encounter wire disconnection due to a contraction force when a molding resin filled at a high temperature to package the device is cooled caused by a difference in expansion coefficient between the resin to be molded and the island, whereas device such as a QFN type-packaged semiconductor would not encounter wire disconnection due to stress during molding even with the difference in thermal expansion coefficient between a lead frame and the resin, in which leads are arrayed around the island supported at four corners in the lead frame, i.e. in a central symmetrical configuration.
However, the inventor found such a phenomenon that in the case of a QFN type package wherein the back faces, subject to soldering, of the island and each lead are exposed directly from the package, particularly when the ground terminal is wire-bonded to that island, the island is also soldered during mounting, so that it rises in temperature due to the heat of soldering to thereby cause a separation force to act on the interface between the island and the overlying resin, thus readily disconnecting or cutting off the wire bonded. That is, this phenomenon is peculiar to such a type of semiconductor device that it is directly soldered through the exposed back faces of the island and leads.
A resin-packaged semiconductor device according to the present invention comprises; an island for bonding a semiconductor chip to its front face side, a plurality of leads arrayed at least partially around the island, a plurality of first wires for electrically interconnecting each electrode terminal of the semiconductor chip to the respectively corresponding plurality of leads, a second wire for electrically interconnecting a ground terminal of the semiconductor chip and the island, and a resin package for exposing thereof the back faces of the island and leads and also covering the front face side, in such a configuration that the island is formed in such a manner that a gap may be interposed between the wire bonding portion to which the second wire is bonded and the die pad portion to which the semiconductor chip is bonded.
Here, the front face side and the back face side refer to a side of the island or the lead on which the semiconductor chip or the wire is bonded and its opposite side, respectively.
By employing such a construction, even if separation develops between the island and the overlying resin, the separation force does not so much act on the wire bonding portion, because it is sandwiched between the resin filled in the gap and the resin filled around the island, and tightly adhered to the resin, so that the wire is not readily disconnected or cut off. This results in obtaining a highly reliable semiconductor device.
The gap interposed between the wire bonding portion and die pad portion may be formed in a slit provided therebetween or formed at a non-linking position when the above-mentioned wire bonding portion is linked to the die pad portion in a bridge state.
By providing such a construction that the wire bonding portion is formed so as to be positioned on the upper side than the die pad and that the back face side of the die pad portion of the island and the back face side of the plurality of leads may be exposed from the resin package roughly in the same plane and also that the back face side of the wire bonding portion is also contained in the resin package, the wire bonding portion does not come in direct contact with a printed circuit board and the like to thereby suppress the conduction of heat due to a rise in temperature caused by solder reflow during mounting and also prevent a separation force from developing between the island""s wire bonding portion and the resin because the surroundings are covered by the resin, thus avoiding the disconnection or cut-off of the wire bonded.